


The Walls Are Paper Thin

by thelastjedi



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8775895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelastjedi/pseuds/thelastjedi
Summary: Who doesn't love bonding with their neighbour?// college au.





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come?”

“I told you, Nat,” you replied through another mouthful of cereal, “I’m good.”

Natasha raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow in response. “We’ve been at college for a two weeks now and you’ve yet to experience one of the parties. It is my duty as best friend and roommate to get you out of this damn apartment! Even Jemma is going!”

“Maybe another day,” you shrugged, “Jeopardy is about to come on. But tell Jemma I said hi.”

“Bozhe moi,” Natasha mumbled.

“I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.” She smiled sweetly, pulling her jacket on and briefly checking her appearance in the mirror on the wall. Deciding she looked as best as she could, she threw the front door open and left, throwing a quick “don’t wait up!” over her shoulder as she did so.

You rolled your eyes at your friend’s antics before turning your attention back to the television screen.

* * *

 

Steve sighed happily as he relaxed back into his couch, a bowl of ramen noodles in hand and Jeopardy on the television. This is how he’d rather spend his nights - not out partying like Bucky, but just taking a well deserved break from everything and finally getting to relax.

As the next question was read out by the host, Steve furrowed his brows. Admittedly, he didn’t know all that much about musicals so he was more than a little stumped. __‘A Christian hymn & a Jewish holiday hymn are both titled this, also the name of a 2009 Tony-nominated musical.’__ 

Steve had no idea. Despite this however, as soon as the contestant revealed his answer, Steve knew it was wrong. After all, why would a Christian and Jewish hymn be called -

“ _ _Kinky Boots__?” A female voice yelled, causing Steve to jump slightly. “Is he __serious__?”

Steve recognised the voice as one that belonged to one of the girls who lived in the apartment next to his and Bucky’s. He had never met them before but he knew they attend the same college as him, and he had caught glimpses of them every now and again. Never enough to be able to identify them in a line-up, though.

Chuckling, Steve found himself wanting to reply to the voice but held back. He didn’t want to seem weird, right?

* * *

 “God, some of those questions were so easy,” you scoffed once the show had ended, picking up your now empty bowl from the table in front of you and padding your way into the kitchen to place it in the sink, “Damn idiots.”

“Do you talk to yourself a lot?” An amused voice said.

A startled yelp left your lips and you quickly glanced around the apartment for the source of the voice.

“Uh, sorry,” the voice said quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Who are you?” You spoke hesitantly after a moment.

“I’m the ghost that lives in your apartment,” was the reply from the voice you now realised came from a male. “I died about a decade ago. You didn’t know?”

 _ _Ghosts aren’t real__ , the logical part of your brain told you. __They aren’t real, they aren’t real, they aren’t real.__ You whimpered quietly, suddenly wishing Natasha were home to make you feel safer.

“My name is Steve.” The voice - or __Steve__ \- said after he received no answer to his joke.

“I have a ghost named Steve?” You questioned in confusion.

“No,” Steve laughed. “The ghost thing was a joke, obviously.” __Yeah… obviously.__ “I’m your neighbour. The walls are pretty thin, sorry.”

“My neighbour!” You said in realisation before sighing in relief. “Right, that makes more sense…” Pausing briefly, you decided to give him your name, too. It was only polite.

“So, do you?” He asked.

“Do I what?” You replied, moving back into the living room slowly.

“Talk to yourself a lot.” His voice had gotten slightly louder and you had a feeling he had moved closer to the wall that connected your apartments.

“Only when my roommate isn’t home… which is actually a lot, now that I think about it. When she doesn’t have class, she likes to go out. Socialise and all that.”

Steve chuckled again. “She sounds like my roommate.”

“They’d probably get along pretty well,” you noted, taking a seat back on the couch which was conveniently placed against the wall. “She’s actually tried to get me to come to some party tonight but clearly, I’d rather yell at the television and have a conversation through a wall.”

“No kidding. That’s like, my favourite thing to do!” Steve joked, causing you to laugh quietly with a roll of your eyes.

As time ticked by, you discovered more about Steve and he discovered more about you. You found out he was an art major from Brooklyn and that his roommate, Bucky, was a childhood friend. He found out that you were an English Literature major and that you had met your roommate, Natasha, through a mutual friend named Clint. He told you a few stories about his and Bucky’s antics which caused you to laugh until you cried. You told him some stories about your antics with Natasha which caused him to grin widely at the thought.

When Natasha came home that night at around 2 AM, she quietly shut the front door with a click and began to tip-toe her way through the apartment. Kicking off her shoes, she began to make her way to the bathroom before she frowned and took a few steps back to find you sleeping peacefully on the couch.

When Bucky arrived home around 20 minutes later, he found Steve in the exact same position.


	2. Chapter 2

“So what was that about last night?” Natasha asked as the two of you made your way to class the next day. She somehow still managed to look put-together despite being out into the early hours of the morning and you couldn’t help but envy her for that.

“Huh?”

“You never fall asleep on the couch,” she explained, “but then I come home and find you lying all haphazard-like with this little smile on your face.”

“I do not smile in my sleep.” You stated.

“You’re missing the point!” Natasha groaned, nudging you with the arm that wasn’t holding her criminal justice textbook and causing you to laugh… and also walk straight into a wall.

“ _ _Fuck__.” You exclaimed, wincing and rubbing your nose that you had whacked off the wall. A splash of your coffee had landed on your shirt but the pain radiating from your nose meant that you barely noticed.

 You lifted your gaze then, only to be met with the sight of a tall, blonde man. __Okay, not a wall then,__ you realised.

“I’m so sorry!” You both said simultaneously, taking a few steps back in order to get out of each other’s space.

“It was my friend’s fault - she pushed me.” You explained.

“I did not!” Natasha refused, though the small smirk on her lips said otherwise.

“I wasn’t looking where I was going - I’m sorry.” He said straight after, looking genuinely apologetic.

“Sorry, again.” You smiled awkwardly before excusing yourself and dragging Natasha by the arm to the correct building as fast as you could.

“He was cute.” Natasha said, turning her head to try and get another glimpse of the man while also attempting to keep up with your quick strides.

“You made me look like an idiot.” You whined.

“Pretty sure you did that yourself, sweetie,” the redhead replied, grinning at the sight of your half-hearted glare. “Oh, come on! If anything, I did you a favour. You've been single for two months now and you haven’t so much as __looked__ at another person.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Nat - the last person I dated cheated on me.”

“That’s because he was a goddamn asshole,” Natasha said bluntly. Her eyes fell on a familiar face who was also walking to class and she quickened her step to let them join the conversation.

Leopold Fitz easily fell into step beside you at her request.

“I have a very important question.” Natasha told him.

“Is it a science question?” He asked with furrowed brows.

“Oh God, no,” she dismissed his question with a wave of her hand, “It’s more important than that. Was Grant - or was Grant not - an asshole?” Natasha asked him as the three of you finally entered the building.

“Definitely,” Leo nodded without hesitation, “total hogface.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” you laughed, “but yeah… he __was__ a hogface.”

* * *

 

One thing Steve had always prided himself on was the fact that he was never late for anything, but after today, he could no longer do that.

Having fallen asleep later than normal, he had also __woken up__  later than normal. This then resulted in Steve missing his daily morning run and having to rush to get changed in order to make it in time for his first class. He somehow made it with a few minutes to spare.

“There’s the sleeping beauty!” Bucky grinned when he came into view. “What took you so long?”

“My jackass friend let me sleep in and then I literally __ran__ into a girl on my way here because I was rushing,” Steve said, slipping into his normal seat next to his friend. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Figured you could use some sleep,” Bucky shrugged with a smirk, “A girl, huh? She pretty?”

“That’s not the point -”

“So she __was__ pretty,” Bucky concluded. “You get her name?”

“Yeah, Buck, of course I got her name,” Steve said sarcastically, “that’s what you’re supposed to do when you walk into a stranger, right? Introduce yourself? Get their whole backstory?”

“Alright, alright. Calm down, smartass.”

Steve’s retort didn’t have the chance to leave his mouth as Professor Coulson entered, causing the room to fall quiet.

* * *

 

“Honey, I’m home!” You called out to Natasha as you entered your apartment a few hours later. “Nat?”

“Just me, I’m afraid.”

Pausing, you turned to the source of the sound - the wall. A smile broke out across your lips when you remembered the strange night you had experienced just yesterday.

“Steve?” You began, hanging your coat on the rack next to the front door and dumping your bag and laptop at the kitchen table. You carried the conversation on while searching through the kitchen cupboards for your dinner. “Your roommate isn’t home yet either, huh?”

“It would seem that way,” Steve replied, his head tilting to the side at the noise from your apartment. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying to find something to eat,” you answered while your arm was as far back into the cupboard as it could possibly be, “got it!”

“What’d you find?” Steve asked in amusement.

You examined the packaging closely. “A pack of day old bagels.”  

“Classy.”

“Sorry, Mr ‘I-Exercise-Daily.’ We can’t all be a picture of health.” You opened the pack of bagels and pulled out two, placing them on the kitchen counter. Busying yourself with cutting the bagels open and adding some cream cheese, you almost missed Steve’s reply.

“A picture of health? You don’t even know what I look like.”

“True,” you agreed, making a few extra bagels with the intentions of keeping them for Natasha when she got home, “but I can imagine.”

“You’ve been imagining me, huh?” Steve sounded smug.

You scoffed. “Shut up.”

* * *

 

You and Steve having dinner together through your respective apartments quickly became a normal part of your routines. Discussing how your days went and occasionally helping the other with homework made your feeble dinners taste better, made your mood lighten even if you didn't feel like smiling. As Natasha and Bucky’s classes usually ran later than the two of yours, you were able to converse freely with each other for a solid week with no interruptions.

The following Thursday, your dinner was interrupted by a certain redhead coming home earlier than normal. You were in the middle of listening intently to a story that Steve was telling when she came through the door.

“Wait, you’re telling me that you just punched the guy?” You asked in shock.

“Well, yeah,” Steve shrugged sheepishly, even though you couldn’t see him. “I don’t like bullies. Doesn’t matter where they’re from.”

“How very heroic.” You smiled.

“Who are you talking to?” Natasha asked with a raised brow as she entered the threshold.

“Uh -”

“It better not be Grant!” She said, quickly scanning your hands for any sign of your phone.

Sighing at her actions, you pulled your phone from your pocket and showed it to her. “It’s not Grant. I don’t want to talk to him just as much as __you__ don’t want me to.”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed as she gazed at you, searching for a hint of a lie. Eventually, she lightened up.

“Okay, I believe you,” she said, “so you were talking to yourself again?”

“Why does everyone say I talk to myself?” You questioned, throwing your hands up in despair.

“Because you do.” Both Natasha and Steve said in unison.

There was a pause.

“Who was that?” Asked Natasha.

“That’d be Steve… Our neighbour.” You gestured weakly towards the wall that connected your homes.

“That’s who you were talking to?”

“That’s correct, ma’am.” Steve replied through the wall, making you duck your head to hide your smile.

“He sounds cute,” Natasha grinned wickedly, “good job, my little vixen.”

“It’s not like that,” you said with a roll of your eyes, “we’re friends.”

“Good friends.” Steve added.

“I'm sure you are. How long have you two been… conversing?” Your roommate asked.

“A few weeks, I guess.”

Natasha’s mouth dropped. “Is that why you skipped class a few days ago? Were you sneaking out to see him?”

“No!” You answered. “I had a headache, Nat. And anyway, Steve hasn’t even stepped foot in this place.”

“And she’s never stepped foot here.” Said Steve.

“So… you guys have never __actually__ met?”

“Nope.” You replied while Steve agreed.

Natasha took a moment to glance between you and the wall. And back again. Finally, she shook her head in exasperation.

“You guys are weird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i reaaaally don't wanna rush things with this so for the time being, no meetings! you'll have to settle with wall-to-wall chats, i'm afraid. but don't worry - the time will come. (also, it's nice to see you, leo fitz! i love you)


	3. Chapter 3

_Knock, knock._

“That’ll be Wanda.” Natasha grinned, jumping up from her place on the couch to let the other girl inside.

“I come bearing gifts.” Wanda smiled as she made her way into the kitchen like she’d done countless times before, holding two bottles of wine in her hands.

“Ugh, you’re the best.” You told her, quickly grabbing three glasses from one of the cupboards and setting them on the counter for her to fill.

“Really? Wanda’s the best?” Natasha asked nonchalantly, “you sure it’s not your friend Steve?”

“Steve?” Wanda questioned, filling each of the wine glasses almost to the brim, “who’s Steve?”

You rolled your eyes as you passed two bowl of chips to Natasha to place in the living room. “He’s a friend.”

“I’ve never heard of him.” Wanda replied, grabbing her glass and the extra snacks and following Natasha.

“Neither had she until a week ago,” Natasha said, gesturing towards you as you entered with the remaining wine glasses in hand. She quickly took hers from your hand before you could pour the liquid over her head.

“Is he hot?” Wanda smiled, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

“Don’t know.” You shrugged, placing yourself between the two girls on the couch in front of the television.

“How can you not know?”

“She’s never met him.” Said Natasha.

“Can you stop saying it like that?” you frowned, “so I don’t know what he looks like; big deal.”

“Wait,” Wanda said, “are you into online dating now?”

You shook your head and swallowed some of your wine. “He’s one of our neighbours.”

“Oh!” Wanda nodded in realisation, “Got it. So you don’t know if he’s the buff brunette or the burly blond?”

Both you and Natasha froze.

“You’ve _seen them_?” Natasha asked with wide eyes.

“Well, yeah,” Wanda shrugged like it was nothing, “I’m here all the time, remember? I have no idea how you guys have even managed to avoid them for this long.”

“Well, fuck,” Natasha said, muting the television and focusing all of her attention on her friends, “tell us!”

“It’s no biggie. I just see them every now and again whenever I come over. The blond usually smiles, but the brunette winked at me once,” Wanda giggled as if she were reliving the moment, “it was great.”

You bit your lip nervously as Wanda spoke. Although you’d wondered what Steve looked like ever since you first spoke to him, you weren’t sure if you were ready to really know. Because once you found out, you knew you’d want to see him for yourself and that brought about a whole new bunch of problems: What if he saw you and suddenly decided that he’d changed his mind about your friendship? What if you didn’t live up to the image he had built up of you in his mind? What if _he_ didn’t live up to yours?

“That’s it, we’re looking him up.” Natasha decided, reaching across the table for her laptop.

“Don’t!” You quickly exclaimed, causing both Wanda and Natasha to look at you in confusion, “I-I mean we don’t even know his full name. It’d be pointless.”

“So?” Wanda frowned.

“You said his friend’s name was Bucky, right?” Asked Natasha, quickly pulling up a new tab and opening Facebook, "we’ll find him first and work our way through - there can’t be that many Bucky’s in the world.”

You watched as her nimble fingers quickly typed the name ‘Bucky’ into the search bar and she chose to search for those that lived in the same city as all of you. “Please, don’t.”

Before Natasha hit enter, she paused. “What’s the matter? Don’t you want to see?”

“I don’t know…”

“He’ll live up to your expectations, I promise,” Wanda said, placing a hand on your arm.

“But what if I don’t live up to his?” You asked.

“Sweetheart,” Wanda began gently, “you will. Trust us.”

“Listen, you’re super hot,” Natasha told you, “but if he’s really your friend, he won’t even care what you look like anyway.”

You nodded towards the laptop on her lap. “Just… not tonight, okay?”

“You got it.” Both Natasha and Wanda reluctantly agreed, and the laptop was placed to the side for the rest of the night.

* * *

Another week went by and over that course of time, both you and Steve had kept up with the routine of having dinner together through the walls and then watching an episode of Jeopardy or whatever show took your fancy that night.

Natasha and Wanda had both kept quiet about you and Steve eventually meeting face-to-face, and the former had even joined two of you a few days ago for an episode of Cake Boss. However, the happy look on your face throughout the evening made Natasha’s brain begin to work in overdrive - thinking of ways to get the two of you to bump into each other.

Steve had enjoyed the extra company that night as the banter between you and Natasha amused him greatly, though he would have to admit that he preferred the nights when he had you all to himself.

**_“Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things.”_ **

Bucky paused at the voice that came through the walls and glanced at Steve who continued typing on his laptop, supposedly hearing nothing out of the ordinary. Shaking his head, Bucky looked back down at his own laptop and attempted to continue his essay.

_**“Magic, madness, heaven, sin. Saw you there and I thought; oh my God, look at that face, you look like my next mistake. Love’s a game, wanna plaaaay?”** _

“Okay, you hear that, right?” He asked.

“Yep.” Steve nodded without looking up.

“Is it -”

“Yep.” Steve said again, “she usually takes her showers at around this time but I’ve never heard her sing this song before. She must be mixing it up today.”

“It’s really creepy that you know that.” Bucky chuckled.

“The walls are thin.” His friend shrugged.

“No shit,” Bucky said, gesturing towards the apartment next door as you continued to sing your heart out.

_**“New money, suit and tie. I can read you like a magazine.”** _

“Does she forget that we can hear her?”

“Probably.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at his friend’s casual behaviour and decided to test the waters.

“She sounds cute.” He said.

Steve finally broke his staring contest with his laptop and looked back at his friend. “I guess.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers,” Bucky grinned, “You’re smitten.”

“I am not.” Steve scoffed.

**_“You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen.”_ **

“You ever gonna meet her?”

“I’m sure I will,” shrugged Steve, “eventually.”

Bucky was surprised.  “You don’t wanna know what she looks like?”

“Of course I do, but I’ll find out whenever I’m supposed to.”

“So damn chivalrous.” Bucky shook his head as he feigned disappointment. Though on the inside, he was making plans. "Hey, what’d you say her roommate was called again?”

“Natasha.” Steve replied, luckily too distracted with his own work to question Bucky's curiosity. 

Bucky nodded once, beginning to type into his laptop once more. After a few minutes of careful searching, he clicked onto the profile and hid a knowing smile.

“Got’cha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter will be based off of an episode of community and it'll be hella bizarre (but also funny) so buckle up for that one !


End file.
